TIDE OF VENGEANCE
by C.P HOWELLS
Summary: A jedi knight, embittered after the surprise attack of the Sith upon his family, quests with others of the Order to end the threat.


Disclaimer: All Starwars related material is property of Lucasfilm, save for anything that is not from their companies and canon material and anything that arose form my own thoughts, experiences, and imagination. Names, personalities, and locations that resemble others of real creation are pure coincidence, they are not intended as such. 

NOTE: This takes place ~500 before SW: TPM. 

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THE JEDI SHADOWS (I know it sounds stupid) are an actual piece of Starwars creation taken from the Tales Of The Jedi Companion, since 'Tales' is supported by Lucasfilm and George Lucas, I assume that the Shadows are canonical.

About the author: I write horror novels mostly dealing with the beliefs of either god or satan, and some futuristic stuff, but this is definitely my first venture into Starwars. 

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In the bleakness of space, above the tumultuous remains of what was a hundred years ago, the planet Selian VIII, several ships veered about in a music-less dance. 

The planet had once been rich and fertile, until a comet had impacted, turning the planet in a gross amount of debris. 

Some pieces were still molten as the coldness of space had yet to cool the former planet's core. 

Beings had fled the system in fear of a shockwave, only to find that gravity shifts had kept the debris together in a large, and dangerous, maze of asteroids. 

The system that was normally devoid of beings was now the home of a ferocious battle. 

The cruiser was small, metallic and indescript; it relied more on maneuverability and speed than on brute force. A long pointed fore and cockpit, large quad-engines at the aft, and two pairs of 'wings' that swept back dangerously, the ship was a vision of intimidation. It's battered view lending it the look of a seasoned combatant. It was an illusion, an advanced craft hidden beneath the tattered shell of an old freighter, a tool of deception. 

A tool that was favored by the robed beings aboard it. 

The ship swerved dangerously to the right, coming close to a group of rogue asteroids having drifted off from the belt, and then banked sharply down, narrowly avoiding being hit by twin blasts of laser fire. 

The ship's pursuers, a pair of black attack craft with blaring tri-engines and a circular cockpit were molded to the darkness of space, it's only giveaway of it's location being the energy it emitted and the glare of it's engines. 

One of the fighter pilots breathed and sweated heavily within the confines of his flightsuit and helmet. Breathing in stale and recycled air, he clicked his comm. 

"A2, concentrate your fire on their engines. Over." His voice was mechanical, devoid of life and emotion. A2, a woman who like her counterpart was cold and calculated, allowed a slightly puzzled tone to enter her voice. 

__

"Copy A1, request permission to change primary mark from engines to life support? With no gravity or oxygen we may manage to keep the ship in one piece. Over."

"Negative, 2, we have strict orders on how we approach the league's bounty on this ship. Assume subjects are extremely hostile and intelligent; destroy them as quickly as possible. Over." Although conceding A2 nevertheless sounded disappointed. 

__

"Acknowledged. Over."

A1 moved one of his hands to a command console in the left of his cockpit, marking in a series of commands, he stopped as his viewscreen lit up with an enhanced image of the enemy craft's engines. 

Warning lights flashed and klaxons blared, the bounty-hunting pilot now warned of the incoming concussion missile. 

Pushing down on a rudder pedal, he slowed his craft's speed and banked it sharply to the left, pushing his inertial compensators to the test. He then engaged his burners, sending his fighter rocketing around a large asteroid, and causing the missile to miss him, barreling in onto his previous position and crashing into the face of the asteroid. 

"Attack!" he screamed into his comm, sped up his craft, and dodged small meteorites as he struggled to reach the maneuvering cruiser. Only to realize that A2 was not making her way towards the cruiser, but to him!

A1 reacted quickly, pushing on his afterburners as to send him away from his now attacking wing mate, he activated the comm. 

"A2, what are you doing? Repeat: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Cease. NOW!" A1 panicked, as A2's ship began to come even closer to his own, fore to fore. He imagined that he could hear the roar of the engines as they cut through the fabric of space itself and came upon him like an animal. "LASELLE, STOP!"

With a flick of his wrist the pilot prepared to shoot down his wing-mate. 

A2 herself had begun to follow orders when she noticed her wing commander barreling towards her at high speeds.

Activating her comm she screamed in incomprehension. 

"Sir, what are you doing?" after a moments pause with still no answer, and the view of her wing commander's ship growing steadily large in front of her she cried louder. "SIR!"

Brushing her thumb over the firing stud on her flightstick, Laselle prepared herself. 

From within the confines of the cruiser a single robed being narrowed his eyes in concentration, and watched as the two attacking fighters, a large distance apart, armed their weapons. 

Three beings, though two would never know it, whispered at the exact moment, but led only by one mind. 

"Fire."

At that moment the two fighters let forth a volley of laser fire. A large fireball of blue gases erupted from each as they turned form construction to debris, both pilots had thought the other had been on a ramming course, the figure had not even had to use the cruiser's weapons, but only the weapon of his mind.

From behind the figure, the voice of an old man whispered. 

"You didn't have to do that."

The figure did not even give the old man the benefit of a response; he just turned from the viewport and walked steadily to the aft of the ship, his black cloak billowing around him 

TIDE OF VENGEANCE

Written by C.P. Howells a.k.a Kiirin

dontstrut@hotmail.com

The galaxy was a changing place, one not yet having seen the dangers of treachery and politics. 

Yet unbeknownst to them, they were already experiencing it's effects, as the dark side of the Force was now making its ways to the Chancellor's halls. 

Several days before the Solstice of Everlast, the Time of Change was upon the galaxy, when the gravity around the galaxy would shift, sending stars to nova, and asteroid belts to coalesce. 

Every decade it was a time of beauty and renewal. 

This time there would be neither. 

The Overseer of the Courts of the Galactic Republic had died of a coronary, the doctors that treated him would never know that it was a poison that took several months to take effect. 

That kept the position of Overseer open to election, it was no surprise to anyone when K'leem Opuchi was elected by the people to take that position, one step closer to the chancellor's chair. 

It was less of a surprise to Opuchi than anyone else, a Sith lord himself he had only done what his successor Palpatine would do half a century later. 

The Sith had gained new ground, by being instated into the courts, they could now begin corrupting the republic from within, and securing the two thousand year plan they had spent so long to lay the foundations. 

With half a millennia of waiting left, the Sith's position allowed them to gather new information on the weaknesses of their enemy: the Jedi Knights. 

To the Sith's dismay, and growing anger, they found that they would have to act on the jedi sooner than thought. It was revealed that the Jedi still knew of the Sith, or at least were prepared for them and the dark side. 

The Sith's great illusion, that of seemingly being wiped out, was in danger of failing. The jedi still clung to one old tradition, though small in numbers; this sect of jedi was still a threat. 

The Jedi Shadows were a group of secretive Jedi Knights who devoted much of their time to gathering information on the Dark Side of the Force, including it's users; thus the Sith were threatened. The Shadows had been formed millennia before the Great Sith War, and were often charged with infiltrating Sith territory to gather information. 

The Shadows knew the ways of the dark side, and so were it's greatest obstacle, light jedi who knew and even practiced the ways of the dark. 

Not willing to risk detection by the opposition, the Sith decided to take the fight to the Shadows and began killing the sect's last surviving members. Forcing the Shadows to act in secret from the other jedi, the Sith weakened the Shadows resolve, and a secret battle began…

Before he could even sit in the aft quarters, the old man caught up with him and gave him a piece of his mind. 

"The use of that power was unnecessary." The old man, wearing a cloak as black as the other's though with the hood pulled down, was balding with clean-shaven and brisk features. Eyes that lit with a blue fire and a voice accustomed to showing the errors of others. 

The other did not answer; instead he sat on the deckplate quietly, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. 

The old man looked to the other occupant in the room, to find her staring out into space through the viewports, her own old features masked in worry. Blond hair streaked with gray framed her face, and her black cloak surrounded her like a blanket as she kept her knees to her chest. The old man, realizing that he would find no help in the other, turned back to the boy, no, _man, _in meditation. 

"We could have taken them with our fore cannons in time, the use of the darkside in this matter is pointless, and blasphemous."

The other continued to breathe silently. 

"Kin."

The figure on the ground allowed himself a small sigh, opened his eyes, and pulled back his hood. 

Kin Dacyl was younger than the others of his group, but had already passed swiftly on into adulthood. Dark blond hair was cut short yet artistically to give him the presence of a menacing individual, a goatee covered a fraction of the lower half of his face, and his eyes held the deep color of gray, the only sign of him being a mixture of species. Handsome yet reserved, his eyes were shaded with the dark, sometimes causing those who were faced with the stare to become lost in them. 

Those eyes secretly saddened Master Veras, the old man. Eyes that once held great meaning and respect now held a detached bitterness and cool anger. For a moment Kin faltered under his friend's gaze, and softness reached his eyes, but were soon stone again. 

"To defeat the enemy, we must use their methods." He said. 

"Use their methods?" Veras shook his head. "Kin if we behave like them we turn into them, and that is far worse than what could happen otherwise."

"There are worse things." Kin whispered roughly. Veras nodded in acknowledgement, Kin knew all too well the punishment the Sith could enact. 

"There are. Though only to ourselves. To others it is not of great consequence if one," and he looked at Kin in regret. "Or if two individuals should die for the needs of the greater good. We cannot use the darkside to reach our means, even if by not using it we secure our failure."

"Do you forget why we exist?" Kin asked the other. "Do you forget that thinking like that, is the reason that the Shadows are depleted down to us four?"

Veras shook his head. 

"The Shadows were created to learn of the Sith, so that we may know of their weaknesses, not to use their own hatefilled ways against them. That is hypocrisy, and molestation of what the Force is. We cannot alter its meaning to suit our ways, the Force is to be understood not used as a weapon." Kin looked at the other with cold stubbornness. 

"It is thinking like that that will eventually destroy our order, when we are called to fight we must be ready."

"But who is to say when to fight?"

"We do."

"No, Kin. The Force does." Kin rose to his feet, looking slightly up to the taller jedi. 

"The Force speaks through us, if we believe we must fight then the Force believes so."

"No, that is when our own emotions take hold, and the Force is blocked. If one acts without the Force's sanction then they face grave consequences, if the Force wishes something it is better to go with the tide rather than against it. In the end the Force will prevail, but one will encounter great misery if they go against the will of the Force."

Kin turned and slammed his hand against a nearby workbench, shaking the frame and causing Master Andessa to cease her musings out the viewport, and to regard her companions with trepidation. Tensions were high on this mission. 

"Is that what happened to the others, they stopped teaching the shadows' ways because it was the will of the Force?" asked Kin. "In doing so we have left ourselves vulnerable to the Sith, and the Sith know this. That is why they brought the battle to us, they knew that I would tell you, that we, the last of the Shadows, would all go together to try and end the Sith's plans. They mean to destroy us all together, leaving the council and the Republic vulnerable for when the Sith decide to attack." Tears rose in his eyes and he continued on. "If we do not let go of our cares, then we will fail, and others will die." Andessa moved to the younger jedi and put her hand on his shoulder, which he quickly shook off. 

"So certain are you?"

The three Shadows turned, to face the last of their sect. 

"Yourself you will calm Kin, Jedi behave not as such."

Kin flushed in embarrassment, for once allowing the little boy whom Andessa had known for all those years to surface, and she prepared to place her hand on him once again, but pulled back when she saw the lingering anger there.

Instead she took a step toward the short green master, placing herself as a shield between him and the younger jedi. 

__

He has a right, Yoda. The Sith came for him first, he saw them, he knows what they are capable of. Andessa, mute, communicated her speech through the Force, allowing the other Jedi to hear her. _Stay from that memory, old friend, or he may go rogue on us. And with the Sith out we cannot chance that, he needs time alone. _Yoda blinked at her slowly, his ears curving back to his skull. _We will all discuss it later. _Andessa promised. 

Yoda, from within his black cloak, gave the woman a small nod and turned to the younger jedi. 

"Rest you will take, meditate you shall, hmmm? Know what the Force has to say will you."

Kin nodded, and left for his chambers, not meeting any of the others' eyes. 

The three masters were quiet for a time, until Veras spoke softly.

"He has the gift, we can only hope that he leads us the way."

__

And pray that his pain does not cause the Force to fall on deaf ears. Said Andessa.

FLASH

The plains of Adanac stood out to him as clear and beautiful as they had six months ago. The small sounds of animals were heard in the distance, as he pushed the limbs of trees from his face making his way through the Palace forest. 

Kin, garbed in clear white pants and tunic, with his hair falling to his back in a slim and proper ponytail, blew of a lock of hair from his eyes. 

The sun could be seen shining through the fronds of vegetation, and the temperature was just right that afternoon, lending a cool breeze to the air. 

His lightsabre banged softly against the inside of his tunic, hidden from view, so Ceila would not be angry with him. Though she would be if she found out. 

Kin sighed. 

She would find out, she always did. Yet she did not understand that even now as he lived on his homeplanet, or at least that of his mother, he could not put thoughts of the Order and battle form his mind.

Spreading his arms he pushed several leafy fronds from his face, and exited the forest. 

The aforementioned breeze now sent the smell of light grass, and spicy scent that he had become accustomed to smelling in the morning: Ceila's perfume. 

His wife wore Lingering Meroose, made from the Quil flower, that now surrounded the small hill cresting before him. 

And atop the hill were the two most important people in his life. 

Ceila lay on the blanket, a wedding gift form her mother who had made it herself, her knees tucked under her. In a simple gown with slim straps and made form a light material she was beautiful beyond words. Her blond hair falling down her shoulders in thin strands, her lips smiling and ruby red, and her face small and soft. 

And the subject of her amusement: the other important person in his life, Rin, his son. 

His son, by the Force it was strange, and he had to keep reminding himself that his son was seven cycles old because it seemed like only yesterday that he had been born. 

Rin, a mix of his father and mother, with short blond hair in a bowl atop his head, and penetrating gray eyes, and a round body. Dressed in a jumpsuit matching his father's. 

Kin felt a stab of pride, knowing how happy that sort of clothing made his son, because it was so like Kin's. Kin being Rin's idol, the boy would never tire of hearing of the Republic and the deeds Kin had performed as a jedi, even though sometimes the stories were tedious. 

Kin promised, though only to himself for he did not want to alert his wife or cause his son to become too eager, that one day he would take Rin as his Padawan. 

Rin, the Force already speaking to him though not knowing it, rose from the blanket to give his father a large smile and wave, before taking off at a full run towards the former knight. 

Kin continued to walk forward, as Ceila gave him a wink that Kin returned with a smile that glowed, causing his wife to redden slightly. 

It was a perfect moment in time. 

A perfect moment, that would turn into a living hell. 

He hadn't sensed anything, and was only aware of the other's presence at his wife's startled cry. 

Rin turned in tandem with his father, watching with fear and open mouthed paralysis as a figure in black came down and struck Ceila in half with a glowing sabre. Blood poured, and the smell of burnt flesh replaced the former smell of his wife's perfume, as Kin's anger grew at the sight of his tortured wife, flailing about like a fish out of water on the blade of the sabre, blood pooling form the corner of her mouth. 

"NOOOOOOOO!" Kin raged, taking his sabre form within his tunic, he ignited it in a swift motion as he was already running towards the figure. Towards the Sith. 

Yes, Kin knew what the being was. For he was a Jedi Shadow, one of four within the order, like his father before him, and his father before him. 

As a Shadow Kin was well trained in the history of their kind, in case they were to ever come back, who would have thought one would arrive and attack his home, when they had been extinct for millennia. 

Taking long strides he was atop the hill in mere seconds, his anger growing as the Sith continued to lunge his red sabre into the woman, a sneer splitting his features at the joy of killing an innocent. As such, he was atop the Sith in moments, lightsabre flashing in intricate patterns. 

The red and yellow sabres crashed together, neither relenting to the other. The two warriors continued their dance of death, or life, as they circled each other. Each trying to find the fatal weak spot, thrusting, parrying, thrusting, swiping, and then taking a step back for a breath. 

Surprising the Sith, Kin continued the fight anew, his anger growing. The sabres clashed together emitting sparks at each point of contact. 

Kin made a feint, then brought his sabre sideways, Force fast, as the Sith spun, narrowly dodging the attack. During the spin he counter attacked with strength of his own, lashing out a foot to trip the jedi. 

Kin jumped slightly, but was only able to awkwardly block the slash from the sith's sabre aimed at his legs, nearly costing him the fight. 

Moving back and coming together again, they brought their sabres to lock in place, each straining to break the other's hold, their faces inches form each other, and Kin had a clear look of the murderer's eyes. Dark green. 

Kin's strength was less, but his speed greater, and during a fight of muscle he would surely lose. But when one is faced with no strength, but speed, it is best to allow room to maneuver. 

Kin moved to the side, allowing the Sith to fall forward slightly, giving Kin enough time to spin and have his elbow make contact with the back of his attacker's head. 

As the Sith fell, Kin heard a strangled gasp, and turned his head to watch in horror as another Sith held Rin up by his neck. This one was older, though shorter than the other, and with a grin of menace, twisted his writs, and broke the boy's neck. 

A sickening crack met Kin's ears, fluid yet hard, and he watched helplessly as his son took a moment to die, pain etched on his features, his eyes going up into his head and saliva dripping loosely form his mouth. 

Kin cried out in suffering. 

"MURDERER!!!" Yet before he could charge, before he could bring up his sabre for a death blow, the other Sith took his own red sabre and plunged it into Kin's side, sending him down into the abyss of unconsciousness.

FLASH 

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You can't find them, can you?

Kin turned from his musings out the viewport, and replied as he looked into Andessa's eyes. 

"'Hard to see the dark side is.'" He quoted. Andessa did not smile as he expected, but kept a grim setline to her lips, and blinked her green eyes. 

__

Especially when anger and vengeance clouds one's mind.

Kin sighed hurriedly, and turned back to the viewport. 

"I try, but they are elusive. When I think I have them found, I become disoriented and lose them all over again."

__

Keep hope. 

"I will." He smiled. "I do." The smile faltered slightly, turning into a puzzled expression. "What do they gain from this? I wonder."

__

Elaborate. Encouraged by Andessa's touch on his shoulder, Kin continued. 

"They obviously have power, those bounty hunters that came after us weren't amateurs. And if they could gain assistance like that without drawing attention to themselves, why don't they just come and kill us?"

__

Perhaps they are not ready. 

"Perhaps they want to break us." Kin said with a raised eyebrow. "Allow tensions to arise so that we are not as well prepared to fight, make us turn against eachother. Turn against eachother's ideals."

__

That is of no consequence. Nothing can break us apart. Andessa said confidently. 

"Can't it? That argument between me and Veras has been coming, and soon it shall be between all of us."

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Even me? She asked slightly amused. Kin laughed softly. 

"No, not you. You are the only calm one among us, well balanced."

__

But even I as a Master can't find the Sith.

"But I can?" Kin asked dubiously. 

__

You are the strongest, except for Yoda, yet your understanding of the darkside surpasses his. You have fought these dark warriors, you are more able to find them than the rest of us.

Kin shook his head. 

"I am not that strong, I lost the fight to the Sith."

__

But you were ill prepared, you had not fought in a long time, you survived at least. 

"They wanted me to survive, to bring word to the rest of you. Anyhow, I cannot see myself with a great future with the Jedi anymore, this is personal now." Andessa nodded in comprehension, and the two stood at the viewport silently. 

__

I wonder why they chose to attack you? Perhaps because you were youngest.

"Or perhaps I was the weakest?" Andessa looked at him strangely for a moment, then turned from the viewport. 

__

Or the strongest. And with that said she left, leaving Kin alone with his thoughts.

"You are sure?" Veras leaned across the circular table in the main salon, the lights above reflecting off of his near baldhead. 

Kin motioned across the room to Andessa who deactivated the lights. Seconds later the hologram pad on the table lit up, causing a blue sphere to rotate above, Veras moved back slightly. 

Yoda narrowed his eyes, and made a thoughtful noise deep in his voice. 

"This planet has no designation by the Republic safe for H7I9, to others in the sector however it is called Nitashi, 'Land of the Dead'." Said Kin. "The dark side is strong there, when my thoughts move around it, it is a void, deliberately hidden form my mind."

Veras placed his hands inside the folds of his robe. 

"Could that not be caused by the residual pain there, or even by the sense of death?" Veras received no answer and turned a quizzical eye to Yoda, who himself had his eyes closed in concentration. The green being's eyes fluttered slightly, and when he opened them he nodded to Veras and looked directly in Kin's direction. 

"Hard to see the darkside is. Sees nothing does the clouded mind, yet go to this planet we shall." Yoda faced Veras for his objections, surprisingly the old jedi just looked at Kin calmly. 

"I hope you're not mistaken, because the longer it takes to catch them, the more evil they could cause." 

"I'm not wrong." The younger man said confidently. 

Andessa walked over to the table, joining her other compatriots. 

__

I suggest we rest and prepare ourselves, we should arrive at the scene in a few hours, let us not be lax in our movements.

The other Jedi nodded in agreement, and moved off separately to be left with their own thoughts. Kin was stopped however, as Yoda called him back quietly. 

"Yes, Master?" Kin looked down at the diminutive yet wise Jedi master, he was balding Kin could see, and his vibrant green color fading. _He's old._ Kin thought, and it had not been that long when Kin had been eye to eye with this master when he was an initiate. 

"What do you, when vengeance you have satisfied?" Kin shook his head. 

"I don't know, return home perhaps." Yoda hrrm, and blinked sleepily, an illusion to the great strength and wisdom that sat in those eyes. 

"Veras leaving soon he is, place there will be on my council. Thinks he that good replacement you will make." Kin opened his mouth slightly before speaking. 

"Me? I didn't think the Master had confidence in my abilities, he always seemed to be forcing me to do better." In fact, even when Kin was young, Veras spent as much time forcing him as Yoda did. But it was normal for Yoda since Kin was his padawan. 

"His project you are. Post he holds is lifetime commitment, takes the most serious mind for such a posting."

"Am I not too young?"

"Experience you know have, father, husband and leader you were. Adult you now are. If you so choose, welcome you we will with open arms." Kin knew what the small Master would not say, having his student sit next to him on the council would be a great welcome. 

Kin nodded. 

"Thank you, Master. But I must say that I didn't put up with your training for seventeen years to stay on Coruscant."

"On Coruscant with family and others you will be with."

"I would be with that on my homeworld." Kin pointed out. 

"But happy will you be?"

Kin could not answer him.

__

Could not or would not. Kin thought. Though at that time it did not matter, for he and the others were already staring out into the barren, volcanic plains of H7I9. 

Having shed their cloaks, the four jedi were now standing in battle dress, form fitting jumpsuits in patterns of white and black. 

The view before him spanned on for a time, small pools of lava cracked the rocky surface, and the sky cracked with thunder, the clouds red and black. 

Though Kin could see the steam rising strongly form the ground, he felt cold inside, a coolness that touched his extremities and the center of his being. 

The planet was a living and raging storm of hell. 

"Over there." Veras raised a gloved hand to point at a grove in the ground. 

After walking cautiously for a few minutes the arrived to the entrance of a cave, eclipsed in black, Kin prepared to unhook his sabre. 

"I don't like this." Veras muttered. He turned to find Andessa staring inside the blackness with a strange expression on her face. 

"Cold it is." Yoda confided, Kin should have been worried, it took something very disturbing to rile the Jedi Master, but Kin could only think of the coming fight. 

His hands opened and closed restlessly at his sides, before finally he unhooked his lightsabre form his belt. 

"Let's go." Before any of the others could say anything, Kin walked into the abyss. 

His breath came out in clouds of vapor, a supernatural occurrence in the heat of the cave, yet there it was before his face. He could hear Yoda shuffling behind him, and Veras in front of Andessa who had taken up the rear. 

He sensed the attack, and brought out his lightsabre hurriedly, igniting the yellow blade just as the figure in black before him ignited his. 

Red and Yellow clashed together loudly, before the figure jumped back. 

Yoda brought his arms into the insides of his tunic, bringing out two short twin cylinders and igniting them. Blue lightsabres, half the size of the norm came form the emitters, and the diminutive jedi took a fighting stance. 

Veras moved to ignite his own green sabre, but was stopped as another red sabre plunged itself into his chest. He choked out a gasp of surprise as wet blood started to pool into his mouth. 

Kin, still keeping his sabre before him, turned along with Yoda in surprise. 

Andessa, her hair framing her face, smiled menacingly. 

"Let it begin."

Without a spoken word Kin and Yoda had broken away from their positions, standing back to back. Yoda faced the elder Sith, while Kin confronted the traitor Andessa, whose green eyes mocked him.

Leaving Yoda to his own opponent, Kin spoke softly to the woman he had only moments ago thought of as a loyal friend. 

"I never would have thought." Surprising him, Andessa spoke clearly with speech, not with her mind. 

"The dark side can deceive many, as it did when I clouded your mind the last time we fought. The time I butchered your whore of a wife, while you, the weak jedi that you are could only watch." Kin's eyes flashed in anger. 

"How can a shadow, the jedi sworn against the Sith, ever turn?"

"Easily," Andessa brought her sabre up threateningly. "I was never a Jedi, or a shadow. It took many manipulations and years to infiltrate myself into your order, but now we will have revenge."

"Yes," said Kin hoarsely. "_I_ will."

With an enemy in his sight, Kin could then see them in his mind's eye. Yoda had trained him well, injected Kin's own strengths in the Force into his fighting style.

Kin wondered if an attack would ever come, when Andessa did. She came in high and fast, making a try to cut him from the shoulder to his chest, though knowing where the blow would land he brought up his blade and fended it off. Pushing her blade to the far right, causing it to crash into the stone wall as sparks flew. 

Pain then rang through his face as she elbowed him in the nose. 

Kin jumped back, careful not to enter Yoda's zone of defense, and assessed his opponent. She was more able, stronger, with the ability to cloud his mind. In such small confines as they were in now Kin was at a disadvantage, he took silent pleasure though knowing that in these circumstances Yoda was in a better situation than his taller opponent. 

He resolved that he would have to exit the cave; and get her to follow him. 

Andessa swung her lightsabre in a large arc, Kin flicked his wrists easily, using a small amount of movement, and felt satisfaction as her sabre collided with the rock wall. 

He could feel her anger grow, not only through the force but in her body language as well. 

Andessa tensed, and then was upon him. Making swipe after swipe with her sabre, she clashed hers against his in the air, their faces before each other, Kin sneered in anger. 

She flicked her wrists and brought her sabre down to cut his legs. 

Kin had been judging his amount of space, and being careful not to misjudge, he leaped over the sabre and turned midair, landing on her shoulder, he pushed off and landed in back of her. 

Not even waiting for her to turn around, he disengaged his sabre and took off at a dead run for the exit, she had underestimated him. 

She walked out of the cave cautiously, and as he attacked her from behind, she spun and matched him strike for strike, spun and kicked his feet out form under him. 

As she took another to cut his head from his body as he lay on the ground, Kin rolled rapidly and flipped back to his feet, prepared for another attack. 

"You're weak, Jedi."

Kin was growing tired and weary, and at the sound of the voice behind him, he brought his sabre overhead to protect his back. 

The force of her strike caused his arm to ache in pain, and twisting he faced her for her further attacks. 

"And you're old, Woman." Andessa made a noise deep in her throat, her anger taking over, she charged him.

Her cuts were stronger and more brutal, strength instead of finesse. Kin's head was bathed in sweat, as the force of Andessa's strikes made him unbalanced. She made a strike for his neck, and he rolled, coming up to face her. 

He surprised her by going offensive, swinging at her chest and head, finally moving to cut one of her limbs off. After blocking each with precision, Andessa deftly pushed his sabre to the side and swung her fist at his head.

Kin swung swiftly around, allowing her fist to pass harmlessly by the back of his skull. He pivoted and brought his foot up behind her back and kicked her. 

She fell on the ground roughly and rolled, feeling the dirt and rocks digging into her flesh, her lightsabre deactivating as it left her hand and fell to a stop several meters away. 

She managed to stop herself before falling over into a small pool of the heated lava, pools Kin and his combatant had managed to avoid until that moment. 

Kin was on her in moments, his sabre at her neck, at which she opened her mouth and showed her teeth. 

"Arrrggh!!!" Kin was sent flying, the Force wave originating from her mind pushing him a great distance away, to fall over the edge of the nearby cliff, his lightsabre along with him. 

The fall was long, with kin's body scraping the side of the jagged rocky cliff, and landing arms first in a heap on a cliff outcropping, just large enough for two bodies spread eagled.

He cried out in pain, tears welling up in his eyes. 

His body was sprawled across, pain raged through him, and he looked down over the outcropping at the swirling mass of the abyss before him. An echo below haunted him, calling for him to jump, but instead he rolled over to gaze up at Andessa.

She grinned menacingly before calling her own fallen sabre to her hand, and then jumped leisurely down towards him, activating her ruby blade in the air. 

Kin forced himself up and searched for his sabre, which was not found. 

Andessa landed atop him, her strike with the sabre blocked as Kin managed to move out of her sight, he kicked her roughly in the abdomen, and grasped his hands atop hers. 

The two fought desperately for the sabre, it's red light the only thing separating their faces from each other. 

Andessa whispered hoarsely. 

"They call this place the Edge of the Spirit, may yours fall over it!"

Tangled together, with Kin's back facing the edge of the cliff, he felt his feet give way, with the rocks crumbling beneath him. 

"If I do," He said dangerously, moving one of his arms to under one of hers, pushing their bodies together, and causing the sabre to burn into his other arm, "Then so do you!!!"

Andessa panicked and tried to push the jedi away from her, the smell of burnt flesh grew stronger, and Kin gritted his teeth in pain. Steeling himself, he lifted his right foot from the ground and took a large step backward. 

The two fell to their deaths, dying together with their anger fused in their minds, and pain surging through them. 

A loud cry of pain was heard for a millisecond before being silenced, leaving one of the two Siths, and one Jedi dead. 

Yoda, injured and limping carefully, held one of his hands against his side watching the blood flow through his small green fingers. 

Kin was no where to be seen, and the elder Sith had escaped, Yoda muttered to himself. 

"Returned the Sith have. Republic's fall upon us, yet only one remains. Always two there are, no more no less, a master and an apprentice."

With a grim look on his face Yoda began hobbling over to their waiting craft, saddened by the loss. 

Kin Dacyl opened his eyes slowly, and with a puzzled expression, pushed the fronds of branches in front of him out of his way. He smelt it but he dared not hope, instead he continued on through the forest, trying to forget the fragrance of flowers that assaulted him. 

He stepped through the clearing, with the crested hill above. 

His son turned to him quickly, smiled, and ran towards him. 

His wife smiled lovingly at him. 

And Kin waited. And waited still, only allowing himself a relieved smile as his son ran into his arms, and hugged him close. 

"Hi Dad." 

And the jedi wept, for finally he had come to terms with what he had lost, he had come to terms with anger and pain. Finally though, he understood what Veras had meant: "If one acts without the Force's sanction then they face grave consequences, if the Force wishes something it is better to go with the tide rather than against it. In the end the Force will prevail, but one will encounter great misery if they go against the will of the Force."

And Kin hadn't, when the Force had called on him to die he had done so willingly, and in turn he had regained his wife and child. 

THE END

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